Dear Read to Grow Family,
Every morning when my husband leaves the
house to go to work as a mental health nurse, his final words to our three black sons are,
“do the right thing.”
Every night I say a prayer that my husband and sons will return home safely.
As we find ourselves in the second week of nationwide protests demanding justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and the thousands of others who lost their lives due to the persistence of racism and systemic oppression, Read to Grow commits to doing the right thing.
We believe that black lives matter and that the horrific injustices of racism must be uprooted.
What does doing the right thing mean for Read to Grow, beyond platitudes? As a historically white led organization, doing the right thing means
committing to hire people of color
, it means
diversifying our board
, it means
elevating children’s books by authors and illustrators of color
, it means
supporting our community partners who are combating systemic injustice
, it means helping to ensure
all children in Connecticut have books of their own
and it means
supporting families in being their children’s first teachers
. Some of these actions are values we’ve held from the start and some we are just starting to enact and we pledge to get better at each day.
Read to Grow has always emphasized the importance of talking with your children. Now more than ever, in an environment where we are facing not only a global pandemic but the broad awakening of so many to the daily injustices experienced by black people and other people of color,
it is especially important to talk with your children
. We encourage you to
listen to them and really hear what they have to say about the world.
A study from the Children’s Research Lab at the University of Texas showed that “explicit conversations with 5-7 year olds about interracial friendship can dramatically improve their racial attitudes in as little as a week” (Vittrup, 2006).
And of course we hope that you will
read with your children.
Children’s books are one of the most accessible starting points for children and families to have conversations about the world’s challenges, including race, racism and bias; we offer
this list of children’s books that have won the Coretta Scott King Award
as a place to start.
Dream with your children about what their contributions will be to our society.
The work we do to empower families and children helps to create a more safe and just society. We ask you to join us in pledging to
do the right thing every day.
Our children are watching.
Suzannah Holsenbeck
Read to Grow, Executive Director
